Jill Sparrow

#120 mercury dancer Small world indeed! Kim and I were at Berridge together and good friends. However we went to different schools, she to Bluecoat and me to Manning, in 1969 and lost touch. I vaguely remember there being some sort of trouble around her father's job at that time. There was also a boy at Berridge named Jeffrey Wyley..although I may have misspelled both names as he wasn't in my class at Berridge. He must also have lived somewhere close to you. Major was a real softie who would wait til I sat down on the sofa, pin me there by placing both paws at the sides and then lick my fa

Mercury dancer I well remember Smith's Foundry. Also knew a few people who must have lived near to you. I took piano lessons for some years as a child with Edith Birch (Mrs Wells), went to school with Kim Machin, whose father was in the police force and a dog-handler. The dog was called Major and had a pen in the garden but was as soft as grease when off duty! The Cheetham family also lived in that area and their daughter was at school with my sister. Small world!

The Engineer, you must have known the Davys family. They lived at the top of Grundy Street.

I first went to Whitby in 1976. It was the autumn equinox and the gale that raged all night was scary in the extreme. Next day, the sea was as calm as a mill pond and brilliant sunshine. My family had friends there and it became my second home. I spent my post graduate year at North Riding College, as it then was, in Scarborough and did most of my teaching practice around Whitby before qualifying as a teacher. I haven't been there since 2003 but have many, many happy memories of that wonderful place.

I was talking to my childhood friend, Jane, the other day. She lived in Hazelwood Road when we were young. Jane told me that the bakery cum sweet shop on Gregory Boulevard was called Crooks and I do believe that's correct. She has an unfortunate reason for remembering the place. Apparently, there was a broken grating outside the front of the shop and Jane fell down it as a small child, cutting her leg quite badly. She says she still has the scar. These days there would be a huge compensation claim! In the early 60s, she would probably have received a smack from her mother to go with it! How t

Freckles, I well remember nurse Heaton who delivered my older sister and should have delivered me. Both were home births in 1950 and 1957 respectively. My mother always said nurse Heaton was most particular about cleanliness. She wrapped all the delivery equipment in terry nappies prior to my sister's birth. Poor mum was worried there would be none left for her to use as they were rationed and no more than a dozen were permitted. Mum dared to disagree with the intrepid nurse Heaton about her due date as regards me! The nurse was going away for the weekend and said mum was not to dare to have

Mercury dancer, you mention a lot of places that were very familiar to me. My family lived at the bottom of Bobbers Mill Road from the 1920s until the 1980s. I recall Mr and Mrs Merriman emigrating to Australia, after which the shop was never the same again. My sister also bought Victory Vs there in the winter. I wasn't terribly keen on sweets but loved Caramac bars and milky bars. Still do!

Could be. It was run by a family where dad did the baking, on the premises, while his wife and daughter served in the shop. The bakery was accessed by a sliding door behind the counter. They sold delicious sponge cakes and I recall buying slabs of butterscotch toffee in black wrappers from there for my great uncle's birthday every year when I was tiny. Happy days!

My older sister was potty about Lucky Bags which she bought for 3d from Merrimans shop on the corner of Oakland Street and Berridge Road. Our grandfather used to shout at her for wasting the money, which he usually gave her, on these multi coloured packets which contained all sorts of rubbish. Myself being almost 8 years younger than sis, grandad would take me with him every Thursday morning to collect his pension from the post office on Gregory Boulevard. Sometimes, we'd go into the bakery a few doors down from the Post Office. They also sold sweets and, if I'd been good, I'd receive a cone

ValuerJim, your wife left Manning seven years before I arrived and in that time some changes were made to the uniform. I have a number of friends who would have been there in the 50s, so have seen quite a few photos. Manning opened around 1930 and girls were initially required to pay fees!

I think all this made me determined to be an individual as opposed to a member of a team and, although I was pretty anti-social to start with, Manning persuaded me that I needed to be more introverted than ever and just ignore the lot of em! They didn't like it but I went my own sweet way and have done so ever since. The only opinion I take any notice of is my own.

I should have said, no eating in the uniform outside school, Cami! Not even a sweet. FLY2 is right. No matter how far from the school you were, doing anything amiss whilst wearing the uniform was certain to be reported. There was no escape, they ALWAYS knew and the miscreant would be required to stand on the apron stage in assembly the following morning, to be shamed in public. Never happened to me, I'm pleased to say. Actually, I was fortunate as the uniform had been revamped by Manning shortly before I darkened its doorways. Previously it had been totally grey and the girls were dubbed 'ca

Manning girls wore a grey pleated skirt which was required to touch the floor when kneeling. If it didn't, one was sent home for being a hussy! Maroon and white striped blouse which could only be purchased from D&P on Friar Lane, no other was acceptable. Red or grey jumper or cardigan. Red and white striped petersham ribbon tie. Red pursebelt. Black shoes in winter, inside of heels no higher than one and a half inches, or one was sent home...for being a hussy! Grey blazer with separately purchased badge, at extortionate expense! Red felt beret! Grey and red striped scarf.Conventional satch

Chulla, you have won my admiration. As someone who can put an aspirin in their mouth, drink an entire cup of coffee and still retain the undissolved aspirin, I marvel at how you can tackle the capsules you describe! I can't swallow tablets and I'm seriously needle phobic. I've been chased down the corridor at the surgery by a nurse who wanted a blood sample! She didn't catch me either! As I've said before, I'm a 5 star coward when it comes to medical matters. Chin up, Chulla, and I fervently hope that you will experience some benefit from the new medication.

I'm English and proud of it! I've got more than 30 years worth of family research to prove it!

Indeed they are which makes it even more tragic that my grandfathers' generation thought they had fought the war to end all wars.

I'd be interested to read those letters. Both my grandfathers fought in the Great War and both were badly affected by it, as must have been the case with most who were involved. They rarely spoke about it other than to friends and neighbours who also served. We can think ourselves immensely lucky never to have witnessed the carnage they experienced.

Well said Margie!! All life is to be respected and I would never deliberately kill anything. I don't understand the anger and violence within some people that compels them to kill, whether people, animals or any form of life for their own gratification.

I'm sure I'm not alone in my irritation at the use of the word 'like' which so many people use in their conversations these days. For example: "I was like really upset..." or "I was like, what do you think you're doing?" If drives me to distraction! I have great difficulty in restraining myself because I want to shake people who do it and ask why they can't speak properly. Where on earth did this irritating vogue originate and why has it become so widespread? I despair, also, over those whose every other word is an expletive. Don't they realise how tedious they are? English is the language o

I find language endlessly fascinating but must admit that English would not be the most logical of languages for a non English-speaking person to learn. Whoops, there's a hyphen in there! I always loved Latin and its logical sentence construction. So much simpler. Never keen on French though!

I had the choice of attending Mundella when I passed the 11 plus but it was too far from my home. Several of my peers from primary school went there. Although we had houses at Manning, many of us felt it fell into two camps really: us, the pupils and them, the teaching staff. Sometimes people ask whether there was any bullying. There wasn't, except by the staff. That may simply be my perception but I've met many females who attended Manning before I did and it seems to be a perception we all share.

My late father was a crossword addict, as is my sister but neither could spell which made the doing of them slightly difficult. My father, who always had an answer for everything, argued that John Milton couldn't spell either. Of course, he was correct. Many of the spellings we today regard as American can be found routinely in Milton's work. English spelling had not, in his time, been standardised. If you really want me to get on my soapbox, someone mention the use...or abuse...of the apostrophe! On the subject of tv presenters, the only one I'm really interested in is the extremely persona

Grey flannel knickers at Manning too, Margie. To be worn at all times under the uniform. Knicker inspections were regular and any girl caught mot sporting them was in trouble! I did hear that one girl was expelled for running a pair up the school flagpole! A comment, perhaps?

There are many third world countries where it isn't considered elitist and, if one wishes to hear English spoken correctly nowadays, those would be the places to find it! Sad but true.

Mum told me they spent a lot of time learning to do domestic chores. Washing, ironing, housework etc. Given the times, the expectations of most girls didn't stretch beyond marriage and a family. They read a lot of poetry too and she enjoyed botany. Quite an eclectic mix of subjects. We did very little domestic science at Manning and I admit to being clueless at cooking but then food has never been of much interest to me...wine, yes...but I'm quite happy with a cheese sandwich! Even I can't ruin that!